


Dead Girl Walking

by dontknowcats



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, HELLO i'm back, Reincarnation, i just like heathers, i know the title makes it seem like a heathers thing but it isn't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 13:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18181274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontknowcats/pseuds/dontknowcats
Summary: Atheva didn't meet a nice end one thousand years ago. Cullen never met an end. Now the world's in trouble all over again!I'm back and still can't write summaries!





	1. Chapter 1

_The air around her grew warmer as they walked closer to the abandoned camp in the Western Approach. Warmer than the already terribly dry, stale air that surrounded them._

_“How much further?” Atheva groaned as she rolled her shoulders. “I’m ready to just toss off my armor.”_

_“Don’t let any of us stop you, Inquisitor,” Iron Bull replied with a chuckle and a mischievous glint in his one good eye._

_Atheva snatched up a rock and threw it at his broad chest. “Shut it,” she said, though she couldn’t help smiling._

_Suddenly shade covered the party and a deafening roar forced the elf to cover her ears._

_“Boss!” Bull exclaimed, his big grin showing his excitement._

_Atheva immediately slipped her bow from across her shoulders and lined an arrow up with the guts of the dragon flying overhead._

_“You know better than that,” Cassandra chimed in as she pulled the arrow back._

_“Yeah, yeah,” Atheva muttered._

_The dragon began to turn in the air, giving her a shot at its eye._

_She released the arrow and sent it right into the dragon’s eye and she breathed a quick thanks to the creators that it hadn’t blinked._

_“...Do dragons blink?” She asked aloud, turning to look back at her party as the dragon began to descend._

_No one had an answer for her as a rain of fire began to fall towards them._

_“Inquisitor!” Cassandra yelled, urging her to move._

_Atheva turned just in time to see the fire part for rows of teeth, ready to chomp down on her._

 

* * *

 

Atheva’s eyes flew open, but there wasn’t a dragon in front of her. Just a slow-turning ceiling fan keeping the air circulated in her bedroom.

The elf sighed and shut her eyes again until her heart rate calmed down. That was the, what, third morning in a row she had woken up to almost being eaten by a dragon? What happened to waking up to a good old wet dream in utter embarrassment?

Eventually, she opened her eyes once more and rolled over to check her phone. The light of her screen blinded her briefly before her eyes readjusted and she rolled onto her back once more.

Minutes passed by as she checked on her social media accounts as well as any missed texts or calls. Once everything had been carefully looked over and replied to, she sat up and rolled her shoulders to pop her back and neck. She pushed her covers back and stood up.

She glanced at herself in the mirror across her room and couldn’t help but smile. Her crazy curly red hair had been her dad’s favorite, and she made sure to keep it long for him after he passed. He wasn’t as happy about her tattoos save for the black letters spelling out “Shartan 9:27” with a black and green wolf in the old Dalish style beneath it wrapping around her left wrist.

_“I figured if I was going to be named after the Inquisitor, I should get something fitting her heritage. That I like, too, obviously,” she added quickly before her dad could protest._

_He smiled and studied the linework closely before letting go of her hand._

_“Much better than losing your hand to magic,” he said with a chuckle before wrapping her in a hug._

After almost one thousand years, no one spoke or heard much about the Inquisitor anymore, but her father had been a professor of mythology at the University of Val Royeux and specialized in the travels and life of Atheva Lavellan, the Inquisitor and Savior of Thedas.

She had grown up with stories about her mighty namesake, the slayer of gods and dragons alike, the one who had stepped into the Fade and survived.

The heroic figure who devolved into a childhood bedtime story.

Atheva rarely spoke about her namesake outside of the initial “Oh, like the Inquisitor?” when meeting new people. Which happened almost every day with her job.

She sighed as she pulled her hair into the best braid she could, ignoring the random strands that enjoyed popping out of their spot.

Once she had on a pair of jeans, a plain white tee-shirt and a comfortable pair of tennis shoes she made her way to the kitchen of her apartment. There on the counter was a duffle bag, already filled to the brim with workout attire. Atheva grabbed her water bottle and a few pieces of fruit from the fridge before tossing them into the bag and zipping it up.

She puggled a pair of earbuds into her phone, settled them into her ears, and turned on her music before grabbing her bag and keys and heading out the door.

Her morning routine was simple: walk from her apartment near the outside of Val Royeaux to one of the decent coffee shops in the city, grab a fresh cup of coffee, then walk the rest of the way to her gym near downtown.

She always woke up early to make it to the gym on time for her morning work out, knowing that Bull would hate if she was late. He needed a good partner and, apparently, she was the only one who could keep up with him.

Atheva took in a deep breath of fresh air before sighing. It smelled like it was going to rain, but the sun made her question herself.


	2. Chapter 2

“How was your walk today?” Bull asked as Atheva threw her fists into his bare hands. Usually anyone helping her train would need to protect their hands, but Bull was a proud Qunari.

“It was pretty good!” She said between throwing punches. “I met a Mabari puppy on my way to the coffee shop... “ Her pause grew longer as she continued to punch at his palms before finally dropping her fists.

“There was this guy at the coffee shop, though.”

“Oh?” Bull asked with a knowing grin.

“No, not like that. It was kind of creepy. He just stared at me,” she said, shuddering at the memory. “Like, if you’re a fan or something just come talk to me.”

“Ew. Yeah, that sounds pretty awful,” he sighed. “Well, did he follow you?”

“I don’t think so. Even if he did, I think I could take him since I train with the biggest Qunari around,” she said with a grin before throwing a sucker punch at his gut.

Being an elf, she was naturally more quick than he was and her fist connected with his stomach before he could block her.

“Fucking hell, Atheva!” He doubled over for a moment before laughing to himself and reaching out to set his hand on her head.

Her shoulders raised in surprise and she laughed along. “Bull, c’mon! You know you could crush me if you wanted to,” she said as she tried to push his hand off with both of hers.

“As fun as that sounds, I don’t think your fans would appreciate that. And you know how I feel about you calling me Bull,” he replied as he lifted his hand.

“It makes you feel even bigger and more powerful.”

“I  _ meant  _ in public.”

“What, you don’t want to be part of the Inquisitor’s daring team of heroes?” Atheva asked as she feigned holding a bow in front of her.

“You know the Inquisitor’s just a kid’s tale,” he said loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity of the fighting ring to hear them. “No, but seriously, everything you’ve told me about this Bull guy is cool and all, but I don’t want people thinking I’m an ass or have an ego the size of--”

“The size of your hands?” Atheva offered with a smirk.

She managed to dodge his swing and ran past him, pushing herself out of the ring when the radio playing over the speakers in the gym announced that it was midday.

“I gotta go, I’ll see ya later!” She called.

“We’re not done with this conversation!” Bull yelled after her.

Atheva merely raised her hand as she walked towards the girl’s locker room, grinning because she thought herself clever.

She changed out of her work-out clothing, breathing in deeply as soon as she peeled off her constricting sports bra. Her knuckles were pink after training despite the precautions she took to protect them. It made her feel accomplished, however, to feel them sting. It meant she was doing something.

Once she was dressed and her earbuds were back in her ears, she left the locker room and headed towards the exit of the gym. Her phone was her main focus as she pushed through the doors.

_ “Omw now.”  _ She texted her friend, knowing that she was already late for their lunch date.

She knew they would be annoyed at her being late, they were all much more time-constrained than her and punctual than she would ever be. Even in school, they would chastise her for her lackadaisical nature.

The elf sighed as she thought about the mean welcomes she would arrive to and turned her music up louder, trying to drown the thoughts out of her mind.

She had made it down three blocks before she got the sense she was being followed.

Very closely.

A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned around immediately, an earbud falling out of her ear as her braid threw itself into the stranger’s face.

Behind her, hands now raised in surprise and defense, was a man breathing heavily. His brown eyes were wide and his mouth was open slightly, either to help him breathe or as if he were trying to think of something to say.

A scar ran vertically through his lips, alerting Atheva to the fact that he was no stranger to violence.

“Can I help you?” She asked, irritated at the guy’s approach.

“Atheva…” He breathed. He sounded stunned, as if he couldn’t believe it was her.

“Y-Yeah… Are you a fan?” She asked. If he was, she didn’t want to be too rude. Tabloids ate that shit up, even from athletes.

He didn’t respond, instead studying every inch of her face. If she didn’t feel uncomfortable before, she sure as hell did now.

“Do you want an aut-!”

Her words were cut off as he pulled her into a kiss.

Her knee flew to his groin and her fist connected with his jaw as soon as her mouth was freed.

“What the fuck you freak?!” She screamed, “You don’t just kiss a stranger! I’m calling the templars!”

She rubbed at her mouth while frantically dialing the number to reach the templar’s emergency line. All the while the man was down on the ground, holding both his jaw and his crotch as he groaned.

“N-No, wait… wait!” He mumbled before finally realizing just what she was doing. “Wait!”

He sat up, causing her to take a few steps back.

“It’s me, Cullen! Do-Don’t you remember me?” He asked, his eyes full of genuine confusion and sorrow.

“Is this some sort of joke?” She asked as she raised her phone to her ear. Turning her attention to the voice on the other end of the line she said, “Yes, I’m outside of the “The Grand Game” game store on Laroi and Ghilain and this crazy dude just came out of nowhere and  _ kissed me _ !!”

“You don’t need to bring the templars into this!” Cullen said, pushing himself up. “I’m sorry, I-”

The glare Atheva shot him was enough. He turned and ran down the street.

“Well, he just ran. But he was a white human male with blonde hair, brown eyes, a scar on his mouth, and he had on a red hoodie and some jeans. Yes. Yes…”

She could not believe this. First being eaten by a dragon, then being attacked by a crazy man on the streets. Disgusting. Val Royeaux was going down the drain!


End file.
